Africa's World Cup qualification format

For the first time, Africa has a full quota of 53 entries for the 2010 preliminaries, which will be divided into three stages where the bottom 10 African teams in the Fifa rankings have been drawn into five preliminary round ties, which are to be played over two legs in October and November.

The five winners will join 43 other countries in the first group phase, where the teams will be divided into 12 groups of four teams each at the World Cup draw in Durban on Nov. 25.

The 48 teams will play six rounds of matches next year with the 12 group winners plus eight best runners-up progressing to the last league stage.

The 20 remaining teams will then be divided into a final stage of five groups of four, with the resultant group winners going onto the World Cup in South Africa and the top three in each group qualifying for the 2010 Nations Cup finals in Angola.

For the first time in more than 70 years, World Cup hosts South Africa — who will play in the finals regardless of their performance in the qualifiers – will participate in the qualifying competition to ensure their qualification for the 2010 Nations Cup.

Should South Africa finish top of their group, the runner-up would qualify for the 2010 World Cup.

Caf also used the 2006 World Cup qualifiers to determine its 16 Nations Cup finalists in Egypt the same year.